I first came across Busch System when doing a Google search for recycling bins, the online chat lead me to their Barrie Ontario location and connected me to a well organized, informative agent by the name of Caryn. Who provided beautiful colour literature that showed me multiple options of their product. Caryn had answers for every one of my questions it was a real pleasure working with her.

We are currently running a pilot program with their products and hope that it is successful so that we can bring in more products to our school. I would highly recommend Caryn and Busch Systems to anyone that is looking for containers.

– Douglas W., Facilities Director, John Knox Christian School

When I was approached by two fifth grade students who were interested in beginning a recycling programs at our school I wanted to act quickly to acknowledge their effort and motivation to better our school and the environment. Although there were other recycling efforts already in place at the school, the students were not contributing to it and were eager to get more involved.

The students found the Busch Systems website and were very interested in the products. We contacted Busch Systems about our idea and there were very open to supporting our efforts. We chose to use the KIDZ Waste Watcher Bins.

Emma and Kayla were excited to see the Waste Watcher bins arrive and began to plan how they would be used in the school to increase recycling efforts in the building. They started by meeting with the head of maintenance to discuss the best locations for each of the bins. With the plan in place the bins were placed in the designated areas. The kid-friendly stickers made the bins a nice addition to our hallways and our students are already showing interest in becoming involved in the recycling efforts.

This year the school has decided to focus on the recycling of cans, bottles and paper. However, Emma and Kayla have bigger goals for the future. They were not satisfied with our local waste management due to the restrictions on the kinds of items accepted. Emma and Kayla are committed to looking for alternatives and broadening the scope of our recycling efforts for next year!

We are beyond satisfied with the customer service we received from Busch Systems. Not only do the Waste Watcher bins look amazing, they helped foster the genuine passion and commitment to recycling displayed by Kayla and Emma.

– Brian Kelly, Lackawanna Trail Elementary Center Principal

Bentall Centre’s ongoing journey and commitment to sustainability in all aspects of our daily operations means continually working on our waste plan to ‘Reduce, Recycle and Reuse’! Our waste diversion rate in 2010 increased from 38% to 92% in 2015. We couldn’t have done it without Busch Systems. Every recycling bin that we use at the centre is from Busch Systems, over the years Busch Systems has supplied us with the following bins to make it easy and user friendly:

• 200 mini max 5.5 – 603 composters
• 400 mini max 13.25 – 603 composters
• 250 – BC 300-11 – composters on wheels
• 6000 – hanging baskets
• 500 – battery bins
• 12 – Waste watchers (slim jims)
• 8 – Aristat recycling units
• 4 – CDC-44

All of these purchases were made possible with the help of Brandon Rutledge and Terri Mainprize!…[And] Can’t forget about Caryn who has been awesome and extremely efficient with our recent order and bringing this Ambassador Program to our attention! Thanks Caryn!

Case Study

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In 2007/2008 TD Canada Trust completely changed the way recycling was practiced in the financial industry by launching a new TD Bank Logo internal program across Canada. TD introduced Busch recycling bins, strategies and promotional materials into roughly 1,100 retail branch locations nationwide. This case study will look at how the program has shaped recycling efforts in the financial industry and how Busch recycling containers helped to achieve the programs goals.

BACKGROUND

TD Canada Trust

• Subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank
• More than 11 million Canadian customers
• Over 1,100 branches and 2,600 ATM green machines
• One of the ‘Best Employers in Canada’ according to MediaCorps annual ‘Canada’s Top 100 Employers List’

Busch Systems

• North American leader of waste, compost and recycling containers for the past 25 years
• Set the industry standard for new annual recycling container designs
• Each container is 100% recyclable and North America made with a minimum of 35% recycled content

The Recycling Containers

• 30” Waste Watchers
• Deskside Recycling Bins
• Promotional Mini 28 Quart Recycling Bins

ANALYSIS

In 2007/2008 TD Canada Trust launched a new internal recycling program for their retail branch locations across Canada. The goal of the program was to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfills and to increase the diversion rate for recycling. Busch Systems recycling containers were used to create this onsite separation program:

The Deskside Recycling Bin
The 30” Waste Watcher
Deskside Recycling Bins were placed conveniently at each teller location and fitted with biodegradable bags. Once full, the bags are emptied into one of the three Waste Watchers which are located in the branch lunchrooms. Together the containers form a centralized recycling station. The bank used custom label, color and shape options on the container openings to assists employees in the material separation process. Brail was also added above each label to assist TD Canada Trust members who are visually impaired. The program collected:

• Cans/Bottles
• Paper
• Fiberboard/Cardboard
• Waste

TD Canada Trust was attracted to the custom label and opening options available from Busch Systems. The bank also liked that the Busch recycling bins didn’t take up a great deal of space yet provided tremendous functionality. Each retail branch location has limited space available to properly run a recycling program. Busch Systems recycling bins helped to create an effective and space efficient recycling program by:

• Being able to slide directly under teller desks and drawers
• Being able to form a sleek recycling station utilizing a small footprint and effective design
• Having concealed bags inside the centralized stations through the use of internal bag hooks. The bags were also able to be 18% smaller to save natural resources and costs

The greatest challenge for TD Canada Trust was what happened to the material after they were transferred into the Waste Watchers recycling bins. TD wanted to make sure that the collection process was simple and ran uniformly. They established three different types of weekly/biweekly pickup methods:

• Community based which relies on curbside municipal collection
• Building based for branches located in malls or plazas which relies on property owners to coordinate collection
• Waste hauler based which relies on TD Canada Trust to arrange for collection
• For bank locations which didn’t have access to community or building based programs TD Canada Trust created one. The bank teamed up with local waste hauler service providers and arranged for programs to be setup. This was an entirely new approach to recycling. It required haulers to go directly into the facilities to collect the materials from central locations. Previously, the haulers were largely used to emptying large metal bins located outside of the facilities.

TD Canada Trust relied on their new recycling equipment to simplify the new collection process. The Busch recycling bins offered:

• Internal bag hooks to ensure that no material misses the bag. This eliminates the time waste collecting materials from the bottom of containers
• Easily removable lids which helps haulers get to the bags with ease
• Easy grip handles on the top and bottom of the container which make them easy to transport and empty

Once the strategy for the recycling program was established the equipment was selected and stocked. The bank created communication and promotional tools to launch the program to the retail locations. Each location was given access to recycling products and equipment supplied by Busch. TD Canada Trust also supplied mini recycling bins stamped with the banks logo and environmental slogan. The bins were filled with program instructions and geared toward educating and exciting TD employees to use the new program.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the program was overwhelming well received by TD employees and customers. The recycling program and products helped to support the environmental brand and culture of the bank. TD is well known for their “Friends of the Environment Foundation” and various other green pursuits.

After looking around for months for recycling containers, we had decided to give up. We could not find anything that was affordable, or that would fit into our lobby or hallway comfortably-everything was too big, and too expensive. One day while I was researching online, I ran across the Busch Systems website. To my surprise, they had exactly what we were looking for in a recycling program!

The fact that we could customize our containers was amazing! I think that just adds a special touch when our guests see that-it shows that we care about our environment, as well as our guests. The IHG Brand is really focused on going “green”, like many companies. We are starting small, but we purchased the aluminum and the newspaper recycling bins. Our recycling bins are placed on either side of a trash can in our hallway-this way; guests can see that instead of throwing away their aluminum cans and their newspapers, we offer a better alternative for them.

Working with Donna Hovey at Busch Systems was a true pleasure. She was very helpful, informative, and patient. We chose Busch Systems due to the great customer service, and the very competitive pricing.

J. M.
Candlewood Suites
Junction City, KS

We are a major University and have set high goals for our sustainability practices and most importantly for our recycling program. We acquired several hundred sets of the Busch Systems Waste Watcher to assist us in our collection points on campus. It was helpful for us to know that using the Waste Watchers was also a benefit to our sustainable goals in that they have a minimum of 35% recycled content.

Since the acquisition of the Waste Watchers we have seen increases in our recycling rates on campus and have continued to see those numbers go up. They are easily recognizable and are able to be conveniently located in our campus buildings.

Subsequently, after we placed the Waste Watchers in our buildings, that expanded to a customized Indoor Sort that Busch Systems developed with our school colors and labeling especially for us. The Indoor Sorts have proven successful and have fit right in with our recycling program goals.

D.V.

Clemson University

Aquinas College, located in Grand Rapids (Michigan), has had an official commitment to campus sustainability since 2005. As a part of that extensive commitment, Aquinas signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment in September of 2008. In this pledge, Aquinas committed to becoming a zero waste to landfill campus by 2020. The Center for Sustainability and Students Striving for Sustainability partnered to further Aquinas’ commitment to sustainability by moving forward the goal to achieve campus-wide zero municipal solid waste by 2014.

Aquinas College Recycling BinsA Zero Waste Team is in place to assist in educational programs concerning Aquinas’ waste streams. With collaboration of faculty, staff, and students, Aquinas will incrementally reduce its waste 25% each semester over two years, by expanding campus composting and recycling efforts. Aquinas is on track thus far, having reduced the campus waste capacity by 25% in the Fall 2012 semester. With everyone working together, the college hopes to reach this aggressive (and unique) goal to be a zero waste campus by 2014!

Aquinas’ recycling program is a single stream system that allows for convenient and efficient use. It was important for their recycling program to be single stream for ease of use. Busch Systems is the company that made Aquinas’ recycling efforts more manageable. Using easy-to-see recycling containers, college students, faculty, staff, and visitors can always find a place to put recyclable waste. Busch Systems’ containers can be found in all common areas of every building on campus.

J.E.

Aquinas College

Mercyhurst University is a fully accredited, four-year, Catholic comprehensive institution, founded in Erie, PA, by the Sisters of Mercy in 1926. With our commitment to sustainability, Mercyhurst has been working on instituting and maintaining a fantastic recycling program on our campuses. We decided to work with Busch Systems for our waste and recycling bin purchasing because of the variety of options, and knowing that we could find almost anything we were looking for in one place. We also really liked Busch’s own environmental efforts including using recycled plastic in their products, among others.

We have purchased a variety of bins including the small 6 gallon Multi-Recycler, the Waste Watcher series, and the basic office/classroom recycling and waste bins. The Multi-Recycler bins were perfect for our freshman residence hall; now each room in all three residence halls, over Mercyhurst Recycle Bins 300 rooms, have their own recycling bins to help with separating waste from recyclables. The basic recycling baskets can be found in all upperclassman apartments and townhouses on the Erie Campus, as well as classrooms and offices. Finally, most of our hallway bins for the academic and office buildings at the Erie Campus are the Waste Watcher series, bringing a more consistent look to the recycling program across the campus.

As a signatory school of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, Mercyhurst works toward carbon neutrality, which included the reduction of our solid waste disposal that ends up in a landfill. We have been very pleased with Busch Systems and their assistance to our efforts to reduce our waste by increasing our recycling. We will continue to use them for our future waste and recycling container needs.

B.P.

The City of Greensboro was allocated $2.5 million from the Federal Government through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in 2009. To receive the funds, the City had to submit a proposed Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy (EECS). The strategies had to include measurable goals and objectives that were comprehensive and community-wide. We worked with our Community Sustainability Council (CSC) to develop a set of recommendations based on information received from public meetings, best practices and technical consultants. The recommendations that were selected consisted of Community-Based Programs, Education/Outreach and Public Infrastructure.

Greensboro Arena Recycling BinThe City Solid Waste Division submitted proposals related to community based programs and public infrastructure. The Community-Based program goals were to increase residential recycling tons by expanding the current Multi-Family recycling pilot. Also, to consider options for a recycling incentive plan or rewards program for residential customers. The Public Infrastructure goal was to improve City facility recycling efforts. Most of our recycling education and service enhancements focused on our external residential and commercial customers, this philosophy changed to target City employees and their work environments. Again, the goal was to educate all City Departments on the importance of recycling and actually enhance our stewardship by increasing City recycling tons and reduce City disposal costs.

Recycling Station in Greensboro, NCGreensboro’s Solid Waste Division received roughly $370,000 of the 2.5 million received in Federal funding. The task was to develop various projects to increase the recycling opportunities, becoming more energy efficient and realize annual cost savings or cost differential for our community-at-large and the City of Greensboro. Through a competitive process, Busch Systems was the vendor of choice for all the bids. Some of the most visible projects included the purchase 82 two-in-one combo units. Fifty-six of the units were allocated for the Municipal parking decks in downtown and the other 26 units were placed at various locations at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. The next project included purchasing 2500 16 gallon bins for the Greensboro Housing Authority to implement Public Housing recycling at 15 communities. Finally, 17 three sort containers are slated to be delivered to schools located in the Greensboro City limits to enhance recycling efforts in schools. To date, we have been very pleased with all of the products we have received from Busch Systems.

Whidbey General Hospital is a public district community hospital on Whidbey Island in Washington State. Because we are in a rural area, we had no curbside recycling pick-up until 2013. When curbside recycling came to our facility, we wanted to be prepared and implement recycling for containers, box-board and junk mail. In planning for this, we consulted our Island County Solid Waste coordinator, Jerry Mingo, who had implemented recycling at the Island County Government offices. He highly recommended Busch Systems products for their performance, price and the fact that they are made with 35% recycled materials and made in North America.

Through a grant from the Whidbey General Hospital Foundation, we were able to purchase 40 of Busch’s Waste Watcher recycling bins for our entire facility and local offices, as well as bins for composting and farm collection of food waste. We also purchased Busch Systems’ Mini Bin, a small 3 liter trash can that we are using to implement the Mini Max trash collection system. This system allows our non-clinical areas to convert a desk side trash can to a desk side recycling bin, and hang the small 3 liter trash can from the bin, minimizing garbage and maximizing recycling. This change alone is forecast to save us around $2000 per year just in bags and will likely reduce our landfill waste by 5-10 percent.

Whidbey General is extremely happy with the look, feel and performance of the Busch Systems products. Nathan and Cassandra provided excellent customer service and worked with us to refine our quote so that we could maximize our grant. I would highly recommend doing business with Busch Systems.

Lori T., MA/MS, RD ,CD, CNSC

Green Team Chair

We are a County-based Joint Powers Authority in Northern California whose mission is to help our residents and businesses recycle and reduce their solid waste. Recently we have focused on Zero Waste by 2025. To reach that goal, one focus is on compostable materials. To address this, we chose BUSCH Systems to provide us with 1600 1.6 gallon Kitchen Compost Bins. These bins were handed out to our residents to assist them in shuttling their kitchen food-scraps to their backyard composter. BUSCH Systems Kitchen Compost Pail was chosen because of its simple yet durable design, its solid or screen lid, and the optional charcoal filter used to eliminate odors. The first 800 were so popular we had to order another 800 to meet demands.

The BUSCH System Kitchen Compost Bin is a tall slender design that can be used easily and conveniently under the sink or between countertop appliances, and the lid can be opened with one hand, should the other hand be full of fresh compostables. We found this design to be more desirable than competitor models as counter space is often limited, and being able to open/close the container with one hand is essential for convenience. Another issue not present in the BUSCH bin is the ‘yuck factor’; washing the bin is easy due to the round corners and smooth internal finish, it’s hygienic and can be done by hand or in the dish-washer.

The expectation with our BUSCH bins that they will be an excellent tool we use to encourage our residents to compost food waste rather than dispose of it in the garbage to then be hauled away to the landfill. Combined with our composting classes and backyard composting bins we hope these Kitchen Compost shuttles will reduce our annual disposal tonnages by up to 75,000 tons and assist us in reaching our ZeroWaste goal!

Our city is making the Waste Watcher bins the standard bins for all city facilities since they clearly and effectively let folks know what materials can be placed in each bin. We also like how the bins can be connected, so the trash bin cannot be separated and moved away from the recycling bins. The Waste Watcher bins have the ability to add to the bin systems, another plus for our city since we are currently using a 3-bin Waste Watcher system for trash, bottles and cans and paper bins, but we hope to add a compost bin eventually. Our experience with Busch Systems customer service has always been positive.

Community School is a pre-K through 12th grade independent school nestled in the mountains of Sun Valley, Idaho. A year ago the school set a goal of achieving zero waste and started searching for solutions to make recycling and composting as easy or easier than throwing waste into the landfill. Our trash analysis showed that approximately 85% of our waste could be recycled or composted. Our challenge was getting our students to make the effort to sort their garbage. We knew education was part of it, but also realized we needed to improve our system; if it was easier to toss waste in the receptacle going to the landfill, we were never going to achieve our goal.

Looking at Busch Systems website and talking to the helpful employees, we knew we had the answers we needed. From small trash cans with the a customized landfill label sitting on every recycling bin to clearly labeled, kid friendly bottle/can recycling bins for our elementary school to stackable bins that fit neatly next to existing trash cans in our eating areas, we found solutions to all our recycling needs. Students are not only excited by the convenience of our new system, they are recycling more!

It seems like every time our school looks to improve our recycling, Busch has the right answer. Students in our fledgling boarding program recognized the need for improved recycling in their rooms. It didn’t take long for them to find the perfect solution to meet both their space constraints and recycling needs. Besides a wide range of well designed products, everyone at Busch has been friendly, helpful, knowledgeable, and extremely responsive to our school’s requests. They have been a pleasure to do business with.

Scott Runkel
Sustainability Coordinator/Teacher
Community School
PO Box 2118
Sun Valley, ID 83333

Earth Angel’s mission is to integrate a standardized method of environmental accountability throughout the entertainment industry. Waste management on movie and television sets encompasses a significant part of our work, and Busch Systems products make this possible. We use Busch Systems Waste Watchers to keep our sets clean and to clearly mark our waste stations. We love that Busch Systems lets you personalize your bins colors and sizes. This makes it extra easy for busy crew members to tell different bins and waste streams apart and to recycle and compost properly. In such a complex, unique industry, we need versatile, customizable products to keep our sets running smoothly and sustainably.

Not only do Busch Systems Waste Watchers help to keep our sets clean, they help us educate and engage crew members. We use a widely accepted and standardized color system on set to make sure that the crew is disposing of waste properly. Wherever they are, even when they’re not on Earth Angel green sets, crew members are able to recognize this universal color system and recycle and compost properly. Together, we are creating a new generation of eco-conscious and sustainably-minded cast and crew members.

We love that Busch Systems not only provides materials for other companies to be more environmentally conscious but they are environmentally conscious themselves! Busch Systems products contain a minimum of 35% recycled content which is very important to us because every time we purchase a bin from them, we know that we are supporting a company who practices what they preach.

Thank you so much Busch Systems! Your products are helping us achieve our vision of no longer making entertainment at the expense of the environment.

Emellie O’Brien
Founder and President of Earth Angel Sustainable Production Services
Brooklyn, New York, USA

We have been purchasing soil saver compost bins from Busch Systems for the past four years and selling them at cost to residents in our area. They are very popular and purchasers have been happy with them. I had worried some might have trouble assembling them, but all purchasers have been very happy. We had one person who had had damage to their bin due to a windstorm and Busch supplied replacement parts free of charge.

Michelle Dunn and her team were very helpful with quoting, mock ups of the Recycling container, and making a few changes along the road. The Chattanooga Zoo is very happy with the product and will probably be ordering more.

The Mad River Resource Management Alliance has been working with Busch System’s Soil Saver Compost Bins for many years. They have performed reliably for our residents and have enabled our backyard composting program to thrive.

Busch Systems customer service representatives were excellent. They helped customize our bin system. The bins are pleasing to the eye and with the busch systems sign frames we are less likely to intermix the various wastes! I love the sign frames in various colors! Keep up the good work Busch Systems and add more standard colors when possible!

I have dealt with Busch Systems throughout many years and continue to do so because of the quality and diversity of their product. They really have the right container for every situation. Busch Systems is the innovator when it comes to recycling solutions.

Busch Systems’ Waste Smart trash and recycling containers are the best around. Great company, great products, well-trained staff who are super helpful and they have unbeatable prices. You can’t go wrong choosing Busch Systems for your next container purchase!

Busch Systems made our ordering experience flawless. I submitted an inquire online, and within minutes the local sales rep (Jonathon) called me with my answer. Jonathon was very helpful and even told me where I could locally recycle household batteries. I would recommend Busch Systems to anyone looking to start or expand their recycling needs

As the owner of a cloth diaper service our potential clients always ask what diaper pail they should choose. Always we suggest one made by Busch Systems,with its charcoal carbon filter and secure latch system it can stand up to any smell and dog. We have been promoting this pail for over a year and have never received complaints or concerns about the diaper pail. This is the only diaper pail we sell since it is the only diaper pail we trust.

I run a diaper service as well as cloth diaper myself. The odorless pails that Busch makes are a must. To test it, I even let my kid’s diapers accumulate for two weeks without a wash. As long as the lid was shut, we didn’t even know they were there! Every family that uses our service is required to use this pail.

The City of Shafter purchased 10-gallon recycling containers from Busch Systems to assist with our compliance with a State of California mandate for providing recycling opportunities to apartment complexes…

The Busch Systems team was very easy to work with and very responsive to our questions and needs which is why I hope they have a role in our continuing efforts to meet the requirements and challenges of recycling compliance.

Our city is making the Waste Watcher bins the standard bins for all city facilities since they clearly and effectively let folks know what materials can be placed in each bin.  We also like how the bins can be connected, so the trash bin cannot be separated and moved away from the recycling bins…Our experience with Busch Systems customer service has always been positive

Many of our students comment about the effective use of space, great labeling and the neat approach to the Waste Watcher recycling stations.  The product sells itself, as many students and instructors have asked the training centre manager where they can purchase this system for their home, garage or office.

This pilot program has proven to be a huge success in many areas, such as  recycling, cleanliness, effective use of space and most importantly customer and student satisfaction.

Thank you Busch Systems!